May 21, 2013

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Winefest FAQ

• What is it? The 2013 Winefest Des Moines is the 11th annual festival celebrating fine food and wine while bettering the community. The Des Moines Wine Festival Foundation is a publicly supported nonprofit corporation. Besides supporting the wine and culinary industry, Winefest has raised about $350,000 for local charities and cultural organizations. • What’s in the VIP Lounge? Two events, Sips & the City and the Grand Tasting, offer this option. VIP guests have access to the events one hour early, a special VIP room and will be treated to specialty wines and passed hors d’oeuvres. They can also visit “action stations” and watch food being prepared and served by Catering DSM. • What does being a “Patron” mean? There are three levels of patronage at various price points. Each package offers special, patron-only perks such as valet parking, automatic VIP Lounge, upgrades, event tickets and others. Details can be found on the Winefest website. • What if it rains during all these outside events? Bite your tongue! (But in the very unlikely event of rain, the Winefest show will go on.) • How do I get tickets and info? Go to www.winefestdesmoines.com or call 244-0039.

Plan your Sunday bike ride so it ends in the Greenwood Park Rose Garden at the Iowa Lawn Party. Dress is uber-casual, so Spandex and fingerless gloves are a fashion “do.” Enjoy homegrown sustenance with all-Iowa food, wines and beers. 2-5 p.m. June 2. $15 in advance; $20 at the door

Head to any of your area Dahl’s stores to get in on Dahl’s Community Tasting. All 13 area stores will have free wine tastings featuring Winefest wines. 5-7 p.m. June 3 (Did we mention it was FREE?)

Unwind after work with a stroll on the Des Moines riverfront and check out Toasting Tuesday, held 5-7 p.m. June 4. Bone up on sparkling wines and nosh on appetizers at the spankin’ new Hub Spot on the Riverwalk’s very first public event. $30

No self-respecting gustatory celebration in these parts would be complete without a bit o’ the pig. Snarf up your tickets for the June 5 Bacon & the Bottle dinner at Cafe di Scala at 6:30 p.m. and join 10 of the Blue Ribbon Bacon Festival boys for a four-course bacon-themed dinner with wine pairings. $75

Winefest’s Prima Dinners are the jewel in the Winefest crown. For this June 6 event, six top chefs in the metro will be paired with six vintners, cooking at six locations around the metro. Four of the six dinners are already sold out, so bust out the diamond earbobs, retrieve the sequined gown from the cleaners and order tickets for the remaining dinners. Tickets remain for dinner at Centro with chef George Formaro, and for chef Terry Boston’s dinner at Des Moines Golf and Country Club. 6:30 p.m.; $250

Don’t forget to bring some fresh green scratch to Sips & the City event on June 7 from 6 to 9 p.m. at Nollen Plaza and Capital Square. For the first time, Winefest attendees can buy what they taste right on the spot. All wines will cost less than $20 a bottle. Enjoy hors d’oeuvres from local restaurants while you listen to music from the Brazilian Twins. $40 in advance; $50 at the door; add $35 to upgrade to the Willis VIP lounge.

Tickets are limited for Winefest weeks’ grand finale, the Grand Tasting on June 8 from 6 to 9 p.m., so if you’re planning to go, get thee to the website. The event offers tastes of the finest in central Iowa food (and plenty of it) and high-end wines, which you can buy by the bottle on the spot. And, by the way, this is a kind of a fancy event, so cocktail attire is recommended. (If a tuxedo-print T-shirt is your idea of dressing up, see “Iowa Lawn Party,” above.) $75 with the option of a $35 upgrade to the Willis VIP Lounge.